Self Defense
by David Silver
Summary: Ruth Powers and her daughter, Laura, move to a less-desirable portion of Springfield. A frightening meetup causes Ruth to consider the value of her daughter being able to defend herself.
1. Chapter 1

"Keep up," huffed Ruth, a bag in either hand, each looking quite heavy, her arms swaying slowly under the weight of them as she marched. "This should be the last of it."

"Comin'," promised her daughter, Laura. Only a young teenager, the child had far smaller bags than her mother, but they were still considerable, struggling to keep up as they worked down the hallway.

"Now I know this ain't the ritz, but when daddy moves-"

"-I know, I know." Laura hurried ahead of Ruth. "We're almost there!" She darted only for a door ahead of her, a neighbor's door, to swing open. A person lumbered out just in time for Laura to crash into him. "Sorry!"

"Yeah, yer gonna be sorry," barked the taller and angry looking man, raising a balled fist.

Ruth's things hit the ground and she darted forward, grabbing the wrist that was coming down on her daughter and swinging it around, wrenching it behind the man's back. "What was that?"

"Aw shit! That hurts lady! Let go…" He wriggled, trying to shake her off even as he swung at her, but she was out of easy reach of his other hand. "Damn it all."

"Say sorry and we'll get back to acting like civilized people." Her words were cool and precise, holding his arm at an uncomfortable angle and threatening to go further.

"Sorry I missed," he spat verbally before trying to make it literal. Ruth shoved him back into his apartment before he could finish the act.

"Let's go." Ruth went to fetch the bags she had dropped. "We're almost there, like you…" She trailed off, seeing tears welling in Laura's eyes. "Aw shit, c'mon." She scooped up Laura's bags right out of her hands, adding them to the great weight she already had. "Just follow me, it's alright."

They were quiet the rest of the way, pressing into their new small apartment. Laura suddenly had energy enough to dash, running into her room and slamming the door shut.

"Bloody hell…" She set her bags on the counter. "If it's not one thing…" She began putting things away as quickly as she could, but she could hear little noises of a hurt child, preventing her from focusing. "Fuck it all…"

With a soft grumbling, she approached her daughter's door. "Hey, Laura? Little bear, you in there?" Not that there was much room for doubt as to the location of Laura.

"No," came the soft rebuttal in outright denial of the facts.

"Oh, then you won't mind if I come in there and snoop around." She reached for the knob, giving it a soft shake. When no further answer came, she opened the door, and caught a sudden pillow in the face. "There's my girl." She picked up the fallen pillow and lobbed it lightly at Laura's bed. "My little firecracker."

"I was… scared," suddenly confessed Laura. "I hated it!" She stomped a foot down even as she bounded up off the same bed. "Why was he like that?! I barely touched him!"

"Some people are born dumb, and others have to practice real hard. I think he worked many years to hone the craft." She moved her cigarette to hang more at the side, making it flare with a puff. "It's alright, it's over. We're home and safe."

"For now…"

Ruth reached for her child, gently squeezing her shoulder. "I'm here, and I won't let anyone lay a single finger on you."

"What about when you're not…"

The shoulder-hold turned into a soft hug, the two going quiet for a bit. "Feeling better?"

"A little."

"Good, gonna finish putting things away." Ruth released Laura with a little smile. "Kitchen's in no shape, we'll order out tonight." She left Laura behind, though with a smile, echoing the bright smile Laura had given.

As she resumed putting things away, she grabbed the phone in one hand, dialing a number only to pause and hang it up. "Damn it, it keeps changing, right." She paused to get a notebook and dialed a different number. "Yeah, Ruth Powers, get Max Powers on the line. Ah huh… mmhmm… I'll wait…"

She cradled the phone between her shoulder and head as she worked, slowly reducing the mess to just a pile of bags. Her new home was looking just a step closer to livable.

"Honey?"

"Max, there you are, figuratively." Not that she could get to talk to him in person all that often. "Your daughter was attacked today."

"What?!" She could hear him go straight. Did he hit something? "Is she alright?!"

"I was there, the perp didn't get a chance to do more than scare her."

He let out a gust of relieved air. "Oh thank goodness… Were you in the bad part of town?"

"We were two doors away from our apartment," dryly noted Ruth as she leaned against the counter. "Some wasted near-vagrant got pissed she ran into him."

"I'll rip him in half…"

"That doesn't solve Laura's problem. She's spooked, and she has every right to be. We won't always be there to protect her. Why don't you show her some of what they're drilling into you over there?"

"I would…" There was a pause, the sound of other people talking. Max was replying. Laura rolled her eyes, waiting for her turn to come back. "I'm not on leave for a while, you know that."

"Yeah, I get that. For king and country." She hung up without waiting for his next reply. "Son of a…" She dropped down and scooped out a great yellow book from under the counter, setting it out heavily on the counter. "Time to do some exploring…"

Her fingers danced through the pages, flipping from one to the next in her search. "Kid's got energy, just needs to learn how to use it…" In an ideal world, she mused, she'd learn from her father, who was already a soldier, and knew how to fight, but that wasn't the world she existed in. "Here we go…"

Springfield Martial Arts Academy? She hiked a brow at it. It was in the local mall, so that was easy enough to get to… "Hey, Laura?"

"What?" came her petulant cry, her door opening and her voice becoming clearer. "What is it?"

"How would you like to learn kung fu?" She pointed down at the book, still pointing as Laura came around the corner.

"You're kidding." Laura blinked softly as she closed the distance and pulled herself up to see the little advertisement of a fist coming through the paper. "You mean it?"

"Won't be easy." She puffed her cigarette. "Your father sent me to bed with bruises when I wanted to learn some moves. Can you be as tough as your mom?"

"Mom! Please." She fell back to her feet and crossed her arms, peering at her mother. "If you can do it, I'll get it done, like, twice as fast."

"Bet you will." Ruth rubbed the top of her daughter's head. "But you can't hurry this too much. You'll hate it, promise. You'll hate it and it'll be work and you'll want to quit, but you can't. Not if you don't want to be helpless ever again."

"Is that an order?"

Ruth raised a brow. "It is, and I'll be telling your father you're joining, so he'll be expecting some moves out of you when he gets home."

Laura cringed, edging back a half-step. "Yes, ma'am! I won't let him down."

Absent or not, the fear he could instill was still there. "You do that. I'll go down there after dinner and see how we get you signed up, alright? You still have school, so once a week is probably more than enough."

"I have to do school _and_ learn martial arts?!" Laura threw up her hands, but a stern glare from Ruth had the hands falling. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good girl. You'll like being able to defend yourself." Confident that she had parented successfully, Laura reached for the phone. "Now, in better news, what would you like for dinner today?"

With a cheer, they moved on to more pleasant things.

* * *

Ruth snubbed her cigarette as she entered the mall, eyes sweeping side to side in search of her destination. "There you are…" There it was, just beside the bathrooms. How convenient.

As she came up, she could see young people inside performing moves in unison, each wearing the white clothes that came with the motiffe. Most had white belts, but some of them were in other colors. The teachers and older students had black belts, she spied fairly quickly. "Hm…"

"Interested in learning self-"

She came around with a fist at the ready, only to have it caught by a shorter asian man. "-defense," he finished with a little smile. "It would seem you already know some techniques. Your stance is off, your swing was spirited but unfocused."

She drew her fist away with a snort. "I only do it when I have to, like when strange creepy sneak up on me."

He raised a lone finger and lowered it towards the storefront. "This is my dojo. I have reason enough to be here. What is your reason?"

Ruth darkened swiftly, realizing her mistake. "Really? Shit, sorry. Look, you're the one I want to talk to then." She hiked a thumb into the dojo. "I want my girl to learn self defense. She should be able to rearrange the face of anyone that looks at her funny."

"This I can do. I am Akira." He bowed towards her formally. "And if you give me your daughter, I will hurt her, and show her how to hurt others, but she must have focus and dedication."

"She's got plenty of both of those." Ruth smirked faintly. "We don't let her do otherwise."

He waved one hand towards a young boy with a white belt. "Some students learn slow. Others learn fast. No guarantees, up to her. We teach, she learns. She does, we teach."

"Yeah yeah, I get the idea." She rolled her eyes lightly. "What do I need to do to start?"

"Come with me." He bowed once more before moving inside with a happy smile, for his bills were being paid that day.

* * *

"Your classes will be on Saturday." She hiked a thumb at a hanging calendar. "Eight in the morning."

"Eight?! So much for sleeping in…" Laura peered balefully at the calendar that bespoke of her ill fortune. "Are they really going to show me how to kick butt?"

"First they'll go through a thousand boring things that _lead_ to butt kicking. You'll pay attention, do what they say, and if you do well enough, you'll get a chance to kick _his_ butt for making you wait through all the boring stuff." Ruth smirked softly at the vision of her little girl kicking the asian man right in his back end. "Be sure to invite me before you do that."

"You got it, Mom." She gave a strong thumbs up of solidarity. "I'll do good, promise. Maybe I'll knock dad over too while I'm at it." She punched one open palm with the opposing fist, a wicked smile on her face.

"Don't get your hopes up too high there…"

"Yeah…" She shrugged softly. "He practices, like, every day, right?"

"Something like that." She was fairly certain he did not actually do that. "But do good enough and maybe he'll pass on some secret military techniques."

"They legit have those?!" Laura blurted, eyes widening with hope. "Hell yeah!"

"Language."

"Yeah yeah." Laura lifted her shoulders. "Sorry. But cool! I'll be the best, uh, martial art person ever and start beating people to a pulp. That'll be fun!"

Ruth squeezed Laura's shoulder lightly. "You just have to make it past the unfun parts first. I know you can do this."

"I can," hotly defended Laura, squaring those same shoulders and making a test punch at the air. "Wax on, wax off for days, then win the tournament, got it."


	2. Chapter 2

Laura looked around the locker room. Other girls were getting dressed, all two others. Most of the class had been boys. "It's all one class, right?" she asked as she worked off her shirt and reached for the martial artist top that had been given to her.

"Just one class," echoed one of the girls, a larger and older girl, maybe around 17'sh? "They only separate us for getting changed. Don't need little lech boys leering at us."

Laura laughed softly at the image as she pulled things into place, stepping into her pants and pulling them up. "How do you tie the belt all fancy?"

"One second." The older girl tied her own belt off and checked herself in a mirror before approaching Laura. She had a blue belt, Laura noticed quietly. "You tie it like this." She showed how to sling it around and then tie it properly. "Just like that."

Laura immediately undid the belt, just to tie it again her own way. The older peered at the effort with a soft tsking sound. "Ain't bad fer your first try, but not quite there." She reached and redid the belt once more in the correct fold.

The belt was undone in young fingers, Laura determined to get it right. She tied it off once more and gestured to it with a proud expression.

The older girl gave a thumbs up. "Good enough. Name's Katie, by the way."

"Laura." She dusted herself and turned for the exit. "Now we can learn how to kick butt?"

"On your first day? Hell no. I wasn't kicking anything approximating a butt for a bit, but I got there." She gestured at her blue belt with a prideful smirk. "You'll get there too if you don't give up."

Laura chopped the air as if imagining delivering a potentially lethal blow to some imagined person's neck. "Let's get started then."

The class began with Akira standing at the front. "Welcome, students. We have new face." He gestured towards Laura. "Say hello to Laura."

"Hello, Laura," the class boomed powerfully, clapping their hands together as one.

Laura blinked softly at the unity, bringing her own hands together in a meek display long after it was over.

"We all here different reason. Some get strong. Some get fit. Some defend themselves. Laura is last. We will teach her how, and first thing she will _crush_ is her fear."

"Yes, sensei," the class roared as one, the clap repeating. Laura was proud to get her hands together just an instant after everyone else, almost taking part of communal noise.

"White belts, follow." Akira pointed to a teacher that was already bowing. "Rest, with me."

Katie waved at Laura with a smile and Laura scampered to join the other white belts, a little comforted for the acknowledgment of one of the few other girls in the class. Around her were all white belts. Most of them young boys, though one grown man was also there, looking about as out of place as she did.

"You picked a good day to join us." The teacher clapped his hands together and bowed to the class, though his eyes were on Laura. "We're covering katas. They're useful, and look cool."

Look cool? Laura smiled with hope, assuming what she thought was a fighting stance.

"Not that." He suddenly snapped to position, showing what he wanted. "Like this." The class shuffled to match him without prompting, Laura trailing behind, but getting herself into position. "And this," he moved forward and brought up an arm, showing the second position.

Laura stepped forward with the others, raising her arm in the way. She couldn't help a chortle of a giggle escaping her.

"Funny?"

"No, Sir!"

He raised a brow at her military bark. "What was the giggle for?"

"This reminds me of movies I've seen." She switched back to the first stance, then transitioned to the second. "It's cool."

His objection faded at her insistence that the association was a positive one. "We don't promise you'll be the star of any movie, but pay attention and you'll learn." He brought one arm down. "Third position. Let me hear a call with each step! Repeat!"

The class began to go through the steps. One, two, three, and back to the first, shouting with each step. Everyone was moving, and Laura was a part of it. Her apprehension faded for the moment and she simply moved, learning the kata.

At least until a foot was placed right where she needed to be and she gracelessly met the floor with a sharp slap of flesh against polished wood. "Oof!"

The teacher was at her side in an instant, helping her up. "Are you alright?"

"M'fine," she insisted, holding her nose with a hand as she put on a brave face. She resisted when he tried to get past that hand, but it was eventually revealed that she had begun bleeding. He hissed softly and began escorting her off the floor. "It's alright, these things happen. Do not be ashamed to be injured."

He left Laura with a cold press to hold to her face and moved back to the front of the class. "While she is recovering, know that I saw what happened, but they will not be punished." Several students shared looks between themselves. "Because you are _all_ being punished. Foul behavior by one is a stain upon us all. Drop and give me 20!" He pointed at the floor sternly and the class cumulatively groaned, dropping to start their punishment.

As soon as the stinging faded from its sharpest and she could remove the press without new messes, Laura stood up just to drop to the same position everyone else was in, starting to do push ups without being told.

The teacher looked baffled at first. "You don't have to."

"I'm a student of this class, Sir. I will do what they do." She kept right on pushing against the ground, getting through her 20 without complaint. "I've done over a hundred of those before," she chimed proudly as she bounced back to her feet. Much of the class was also standing, but some were still working through. "Back to kata?"

"Stay after class, if you would. Is everyone finished? Good, let us proceed…"

And the class continued, with going through steps a lot, but no fighting permitted among the white belts that day. Just a lot of preparatory motions with the hope of future application. When the class let out, the students dashed away. The adult ambled at a more relaxed pace.

One boy didn't rush with the others, approaching Laura instead. "Hey, uh… that was pretty cool."

"What was?" She hiked a brow at the kid. He had been standing to her right when she… "Hey, you're the one that-"

"-Yeah, but you took it like a champ." He grinned like a little imp. "You're cool. What's your name again? I'm Toby!"

Laura glanced towards the teacher, but he wasn't getting involved, just watching them. "Laura... Nice to meet you?" She offered a hand, but he didn't take it, instead bowing in the way the teachers had been doing. Laura laughed at that even as she bent forward, trying to imitate it. "No more tripping, alright? Ain't cool."

"Nah, we're cool." He shot a thumbs up, then ran after the other students and the locker room.

The teacher closed then. "That worked out well. Toby is a good kid, usually, but he gets stupid ideas in his head sometimes and it falls on me to beat it out of him. Now, Laura?"

"Yes, Sir?" She saluted suddenly.

He reached for her saluting hand and gently lowered it as he took the other hand and brought it in, showing her how to bow. "You are very formal, and I appreciate that, but this is how we salute here."

She finished her bow as she had been shown. "Thank you for teaching me today."

"You are quite welcome… Tell me, are your parents in the military?"

She started back at that. "How did you know?! Did they tell you?"

"I watch and see, one of many skills of a martial artist." He was smiling with a cocky smile on his face. "You have many signs of it. Disciplined, polite, I like that. You keep coming back and we'll make your time worth it."

Laura departed with her head held high, confidence in how she comported herself shining with every movement.

"Hey, Laura." Katie was just finished in switching back to her street clothes. "How'd your first class go?"

"Some little jerk tripped me, but it's alright." Laura popped open her locker and started getting her clothes out. "Little shit was testing me."

"You have a mouth on you," noted Katie with a smirk. "I thought I heard something drop, was wondering what that could be, but didn't think it'd be you."

"It was," Laura sighed as she pulled down her original shirt and undid her white belt. "I felt hella lame, but I wasn't going to let _them_ know that."

"Atta girl." Katie fired a powerful thumbs up as she headed for the exit. "See you next week?"

"Next week!" She managed a wave before the older girl was gone, then focused on her own changing, humming softly to herself.

On the way home, she brought up her arms and took the stances she had been shown. She had no idea what they meant or how they should be used, but she felt great doing them, so she did, practicing them all along the way.

She jumped off the bus, hitting the ground in a fighting stance before she giggled at herself, heading for her apartment. "Mom!" The door was open by the time she reached it, and soon she was in the arms of her mother, Ruth and Laura embracing happily."

"Tell me how it went," urged Ruth as she closed the door behind Laura. "Did it go well?"

Laura took a step back, falling into the first step and proceeding through the next two formally before giving a proper bow towards her mother, grinning the entire time.

Ruth brought her hands together in a soft clap, clap, clap. "There we go. Only one class and you're already learning things. How'd it feel?"

"It was good. Just one little snot, but I already have him straightened out." She bounced past her mother, whistling softly. "Tell me when dinner's on please!"

"Hold on there." She grabbed Laura just before she could get away. "Not so fast. You think you can have your first day and not do a little celebrating?"

Laura looked over her shoulder, curios hope in her eyes. "What kind of celebrating?"

"Did you know they have a Wall-E in this town?" She pulled out a terribly crinkled brochure, showing the grinning mascot. "Just the kind of thing for a special occasion, hm?"

"Awesome!" She pumped a fist. "Shoot, wish I knew ahead of time, I'd have invited my friend there."

Ruth's brows raised together. "You made a new friend?"

"Her name's Katie and she's a red belt." Laura bobbed her head eagerly. "And she's super awesome. She showed me how to tie a karate belt right, and she's cool."

"I hear she's pretty great," softly jested Ruth with a raised brow. "Still up for some pizza and games without her?"

"Mmm… yeah, sure. Let me take a shower real quick." She dashed off to do just that.

That left Ruth smiling gently. "This is working…" She reached for the phone but didn't lift it just yet, considering calling Max. "He's… probably busy, as always… Still, if I don't try…" She dialed his current number.

"Yeah, hello. Ruth Powers. Can I talk to Max? Powers. Max Powers." She tapped a foot impatiently a moment. "Yeah? Yes, Max. Powers. Oh, alright…" She hung up the phone with a weary sigh. He was busy.


	3. Chapter 3

Laura talked animatedly with a friend as they walked down the hallway. They were talking about nothing particularly important, both laughing at jokes that made sense to them and few others and neither cared.

"Watch where you're going," barked an older kid, her senior in the school. Bigger, angier, and already shaking with rage. "Stupid little runt."

It hadn't been Laura that bumped into the irate girl. It hadn't even been her friend. Some other kid was being picked on, thrown up against a locker by a bruiser of a girl. Laura wouldn't have it. With a sharp frown, she shouted, "pick on someone your own size!"

The behemoth turned to her, the other kid making a run for it. "Huh, you look close enough," she joked with a smirk on her face, looking quite proud of her witty line. "Stand still and this'll go faster."

She threw a punch and Laura raised an arm, taking position 1. It was a flawless transition that did nothing, an empty move without the backing to go with it, and she was bashed across the face for her troubles, staggering back.

"The hell was that?" barked the large angry girl, taking a large step in on Laura. With a low growl, she reached to grab her, but Laura had recovered from her mis-step and instead ducked low, scrambling around her larger opponent. "Come back here!"

"What's going on here?" Principal Skinner had happened on the scene, adjusting his tie.

"Nothin'," assured the bully, giving enough time for Laura to slip away and vanish into the crowd.

"Thanks." Her attempt to flee had been interrupted, a soft hand on her arm. It was the girl that had been being bullied. "That was brave of you."

"Hey, no problem." Laura raised her free arm to give a thumbs up. "You'd do the same, right?"

"Uh…" The other girl didn't look nearly as certain about that. "Thanks, really. Cindy can get really… rough."

"Not as rough as me," assured Laura, hiking both thumbs at herself. "At least, once I finish learning how to wax off."

"Wax off?" The girl raised a brow with confusion. "Well, uh… thanks again. I'll see you around?"

"Probably. What's your name?" Laura offered a hand to the girl she saved.

"Katie." She took the hand, but it was a brief touch. "Gotta get to class."

Laura waved at the parting form of Katie, moving to get to her own class, thankful that her own various parts were where they needed to be.

A hand touched on her shoulder. "I know you're new," spoke the stern voice of the principal. "But kindly keep the fuss to a minimum. I have my eyes on you." He directed two fingers from his eyes and turned his hand to face Laura.

"Yes, Sir," she nodded firmly. "I have to get to class, Sir."

"Of course, of course." He smiled a little, watching her go. "What a polite little girl." He had expected a far more prickly or evasive demeanor, but that felt genuine, and polite. That didn't mean he wouldn't be watching her though.

* * *

Laura stepped away from the food line, her tray piled with food. She had to pick a spot to sit at. Her eyes wandered over the crowd of other young kids, each in their own little social bubble that would not necessarily welcome her presence. "Hm."

"Hey." Katie waved from the left. "Sit with me?"

Laura's expression brightened as she wove towards her new friend. "You've already paid me back." She sank down across from Katie. "How are things going?"

Katie took a bite out of her banana. "S'ok so far. It's school. One day, all the days…"

"That isn't true." Laura shrugged softly. "I've been to a lot of schools and they get real different in ways you don't really think about until you see it."

"Really?" Katie leaned forward a bit. "Like how?"

Laura prodded her mac and cheese with a plastic fork and started shoveling it in. "Mmm, well, last place I was at had this super strict dress code, like crazy strict." She hiked a thumb as she chewed at a boy whose collar was curled at the very tip. "That'd get you a ruler, pow, just like that."

Katie shrank just as the pow was stated. "That sounds awful. Why would anyone go there?"

"Because your parent tells you to?" Laura shrugged softly. "And it was safe. No kid pulls stuff like that, uh, what was her name?"

"Cindy." It hadn't been Katie that said it, instead a larger voice just behind Laura. "Nice move."

Laura hiked a brow, trying to play it cool at the large girl hovering over them. "Yeah?" She reached for her milk, sipping lightly as if nothing was going on. She could see Katie was trembling and looking like she wanted to fade into the floor, never to be seen again.

"Yeah." Cindy put a hand on the table next to Laura's food. "But I don't like gettin' in trouble, see? So next time, we settle it nice and clean, outside school, ya know?"

Laura swallowed, but she had milk in her mouth, making it far less suspicious as she set the carton down. "If you wanted to play, you just had to ask."

"Laura!" squeaked her new friend, trembling. "Don't antagonize her."

"What?" Cindy flashed a sudden bright grin. "She ain't anting anyone. She's just offerin' to play, ain't that right?"

"Exactly right." Laura nodded to herself as she scooped up more mac and cheese. "What systems do you have?"

This seemed to throw Cindy off-balance. "Wait, you meant really play?"

"Duh." Laura rolled her eyes. "Bet I could beat you at any game you got."

Cindy suddenly burst into laughter, coming down next to Laura with a thump, taking the seat. "You know what? I think I might like you, little girl. What's yer name?"

"Laura. Laura _Powers_," she stated with a proud grin. "You'll find out why I'm called that after we play."

"I'm shaking in my panties over here." Cindy snorted and guzzled a suddenly popped open carton of chocolate milk, half an eye on Katie. "She comin'?"

"If she wants." Laura smiled more gently at Katie. "Come on, it'll be fun. Just don't cry if we beat you into the dirt in the game. All's fair once you hit start."

Katie giggled nervously, glancing around. "Are you… both serious?"

"You sayin' you don't wanna come?!" Cindy balled up her free hand, glaring at Katie dangerously.

"No! No, I mean, sure! I'd love to come! Yeah! Um… so… what… systems do you have?" Katie took a noisy little slurp of her orange juice. "I could maybe bring a game?"

"Gotta Sega," grunted Cindy. "Only-"

"I got a few for that," suddenly agreed Laura, cutting her off. "I'll bring one."

Katie raised a brow at that. "Ya kiddin'. Thought I was the only damned person in this school with one. Master or Genesis?"

"Genesis." Laura nodded confidently.

"I have a Nintendo," admitted Katie, smiling nervously.

Cindy waved Katie off. "So you ain't bringing jack, whatever, just come ready to be creamed." She suddenly nudged Laura from the side. "You better give a good fight or I'll be pissed."

"Don't you even worry about it." She was starting to relax, her smile less forced. "This is the kind of fight I like better anyway."

Cindy snorted softly, but didn't bring up the aborted attempt at a hallway mugging. They ate their food without any violence being passed between them.

* * *

"Mom, I'm home," called out Laura as she swung her backpack to the side. "Everything cool?"

"Cold as ice," replied Ruth from the sofa, watching her daughter with a little smile. "You're looking awfully chipper, and you didn't call me. Feeling better?"

"A ton!" She bounced over towards her mother with a big grin. "I met this big bully and I fought them."

Ruth raised a brow at that. "Did you win?"

"Nope." Laura shrugged her shoulders. "But I didn't lose, and now we're friends, and I'm gonna visit and play some Sega games with them on Friday so I might not come home if it turns into a slee-"

"-Call me if that happens," cut in Ruth, puffing her cigarette. "You're not old enough to just assume that."

"Yes, ma'am," briskly agreed Laura, saluting before she crashed next to her mother. "She's a big tough girl but she's soft on the inside, I know the kind." She grinned a little. "I think she was impressed I was ready to try to fight her."

"Is she… the only friend you made, and does she have a name?" Ruth set her cigarette down in an ashtray, focusing on Laura. "Not that I'm upset you made a friend, big or not."

"You'll like the other one even more then, maybe? The big one's Cindy, but I saved a little one from her. Her name's Katie, and she's a little shy, might be a nerd."

"You are also a nerd," casually pointed out Ruth with a dry edge.

"Maybe, but I know how to keep it subtle." Laura waggled her brows softly. "I keep my nerdiness in the right place instead of carrying it everywhere and hoping no one notices it."

"When did you get so mature." She ruffled the top of Laura's head. "They give you any homework on the first day?"

"It's only _my_ first day, so, yeah, tons." Laura hiked a thumb at her dropped backpack. "So I better get on that."

"You read my mind. Dinner will be ready at the usual time, and you'll get some when you show me your finished homework." She nodded towards the kitchen. "Homemade today."

"You must be feeling better too." She bounced to her feet, grabbed her bag, and moved towards her room all in one fluid motion. "I'm gonna punch my teacher though."

The cigarette Ruth had just picked up fell from her fingers. "What was that?"

Laura shrugged softly. "I did the first stance and it didn't help at all, got punched and looked stupid at the same time. He gets a punch, only fair."

"If he lets you punch him, he may not be good at what he's teaching." Ruth stood up, leaving the ash-producing stick behind. "But you just barely started there. Did they even have you actually fight anyone yet?"

"Not yet," admitted Laura, crossing her arms. "So I had to do what I had."

"Someone showed you how to turn your game on and you're mad they didn't show you how to win the game." She smirked softly. "Maybe you should keep listening?" She leveled a finger. "And maybe pick fights less often?"

"She was bullying another girl right in front of me." She stomped a hoof. "I wasn't going to just pretend I didn't see anything, god… I know how that feels. She looked… how I felt, when we first came here… I had to be you."

"Be me?" Ruth's brows went up before they fell down. "You can't be everyone's mother, Laura."

"No." She smiled a little. "But if I can help one person, that's good right?"

Ruth raised a lone finger before it slowly fell. "I can't really argue that… Go do your homework." Laura saluted and dashed off to her room. "Damn girl, who taught you to be a good person?" She went to fetch her cigarette, taking a slow draw from it to soothe her nerves. "At least she's alright…"

Her imagination ran wild with visions of her little girl getting pummeled bloody by over-testosteroned bullies with monobrows. "Damn it." She wandered towards the kitchen. "Time to do the housewife thing, pretend I'm normal. Maybe it'll help her be a little normal."

She took out supplies to get to cooking, taking meat and other edibles from the fridge. "We are a perfectly normal family, with perfectly normal problems. Oh no, I'll need to get her to soccer practice at the same time I'm getting my nails done, what do I do?" She snorted softly in derision at the fantasy. Her family was not normal.


	4. Chapter 4

"It didn't work," barked Laura with a scowl. "What is my mom paying for if it doesn't work, Sir?"

Her teacher brought his hands together calmly. "You have not learned how to make use of it yet. Tell me what happened."

So she did, even with the rest of the class watching and listening. The teacher rubbed his chin as she spoke, nodding along. "You did quite well with what you had, and you defused the situation. Very good."

"Yeah, she ain't all bad." Laura pointed at the teacher accusingly. "That doesn't get you off the hook."

"Nor you." He gestured to the class. "You are all new students. You have learned what the letter A looks like, and complain that you could not write the next great American novel. Are you willing to continue learning, or are you quitting before we even truly begin?"

Laura's right hand clenched a moment before she shook herself out. "Right, fine. Fine! Sure, I get that." She suddenly smiled, warm and ready. "I'll learn the rest of the alphabet then, Sir. Then I'll write them all over your face." She brought her hands together as he had done, bowing properly.

"I look forward to it." He gestured to the empty space. "If you would take your position? Let us continue."

And the teaching resumed. Laura was good to her word, voraciously devouring all the techniques given to her. She would learn the alphabet of fighting.

* * *

"I'm home," came a familiar and yet strange voice. "Ruthy, Laura?"

Ruth looked up from the sofa with a soft smirk. "She's at school. Where else would she be at this time of day." She rose up, setting her lit cigarette aside a moment. "Look at you, all official."

There was Max Powers, smiling and in proper army attire, a jacket worn over his formal clothing. "I'm here and you have no idea how good it is to see you." He threw the door shut behind himself as he advanced on Ruth. "How have things been?"

"It's had its ups and downs." She put one arm around him as he took hold of her. They shared a brief kiss and her smile became easier, remembering that she still had emotions for the man. "It's been quiet without you." They kissed a bit more softly, a lingering exchange.

"Now what's this about Laura learning how to fight?" He trailed a hand down to cup her bottom, holding her close. "Is she picking it up? I don't want my Laura getting grizzled."

Ruth rolled her eyes. "And yet you married me, and I'm not exactly a delicate flower." She prodded him right in the chest as she leaned against him, a coy smile on her face. "She had me up it from Saturdays to Saturdays _and_ Sundays."

"That's my girl." He squeezed the soft part of her he had found. "Let's celebrate the wonderful thing we've made."

She understood what he was implying and snickered as they retired to their room.

"I'm home!" called Laura, coming home later and throwing her backpack aside. "Mom?"

"Nope, but close." Max stepped out from the hallway, a big grin on his face. "Private Laura Powers, attention!"

Laura snapped to stiff attention immediately. "Sir, yes, Sir!"

He approached her, hands behind his back, studying her with discerning eyes. "I've been informed you've been trying to show up your old man."

"Sir, no, Sir!"

"Hmm… Show me what you have." He stepped back, taking off his jacket and tossing it across the counter. "Go on."

Laura had been paying attention, but her clenched jaws reflected her lack of complete confidence in taking on her military father. "Yes, Sir." She assumed stance A, hands up, ready to fight more than she had been when she had challenged Cindy.

He ran out of patience long before she went for a move. With a sudden lunge, he made a swing at her. She ducked under the attack and lashed out a fist without thinking, catching him in the side with a thud of bashed meat.

Max laughed rather than grunting in pain. "Oh, so they have taught you how to throw a punch." He danced back a little. "But you have to hit harder than that if you want to put a man down."

"If you give our daughter a black eye…" warned Ruth as she emerged, watching the going ons with a scowl.

"I can handle myself," Laura insisted, forced back as Max came in, throwing light jabs in her direction. "Just like they showed me," she muttered to herself, trying to steel herself. She lashed out a foot, connecting with his shin.

Her triumph was short lived, a knuckled fist catching her in the cheek. She went down like a sack of bricks even as he staggered half a step back. "You've got a mean-Laura? You alright?"

"Jesus Christ on a stick, Max. She's not even half your weight." Ruth was at Laura's side in a flash, helping her get to a sitting up position. "Laura, you in there?"

"I'm fine," she slurred, metal in her mouth, or so it tasted. She swallowed it back and gagged, tongue curling in disgust. "Ow, jeeze, Dad…"

"Come on." He thrust a hand towards her. "Get back up here. Soldiers don't sit on the ground."

Laura glanced at her mom before reaching for his hand and being half-yanked to her feet. "Yeah, I'm alright." She resisted rubbing the bruise on her face. "You hit like a baby anyway."

Max barked out a loud single laugh at that. "See, she's fine, but I'm not taking backmouth from my soldier. Get back down there and give me twenty."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" And down she went, forced to get to work with rapid proper pushups, knowing if she messed any up, she'd have the counter reset, likely at a higher number.

When she hit the twentieth, something landed on her, soft and billowing. Laura stood up, blinking from beneath a jacket. It was Max's jacket, draped over her. "Did you drop this, Sir?"

Max shrugged his shoulder. "Looks like I did. Now it's yours. Let it be a reminder to the world that you've crossed fists with a real soldier."

Laura felt a smile coming, deep and wide, even if that made her face complain where she had been hit. She slipped her arms into the sleeves, pulling it into place. It was a bit large on her, but it was perfect in her eyes. "Thanks… dad… I love it." One zip later and it was as snug as it would be at that moment. "How do I look?"

"Like a soldier," complimented Max with a grin. "You keep practicing and we'll get a rematch."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" She sharply saluted and grabbed her backpack, dancing off to her room with a trail of giggles behind her.

"What were you thinking?" hissed Ruth, a hand over her face. "You could have really hurt her."

"But I didn't. It's all part of growing up strong and ready. She's our little soldier, and she's doing it right." He waved a hand in the direction Laura had fled. "She's fine, better than fine. She'll never forget today. Ah, I remember my first time." Visions of his own first battle with his own father played in his mind. He had been knocked to the ground in much the same way. "The more things change…"

Ruth pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, it's late. I'll order some food for us, alright? If you can manage to relax without putting any new marks on anyone." She moved for the phone, grumbling along the way.

"It's good to be home." He crashed on the couch and grabbed the beer. "I should be back for a full week."

"A full week?" Ruth smiled from inside the kitchen, visible over the counter as she picked up the phone. "Who did you have to murder to get that?" She dialed and was soon ordering food for them all.

"It shouldn't be a problem. I have the timeoff saved and I did all the paperwork." He put his hands behind his head, relaxing back on the couch before reaching for the remote to put on something to watch. "Some quality Powers time."

Food ordered, Ruth joined him for some quiet television. For just a moment, there wasn't anything to worry about. Her family was together, and happy. Life wasn't so bad at all.

The phone rang urgently. "I have it." Max stood up and marched over towards it. "Good timing, calling during the commercials." He grabbed the phone. "Max Powers speaking."

He saluted suddenly. "Sir."

Ruth's brows fell instantly, watching the conversation even if she could only hear what Max said. Her teeth set, predicting how it would go, but hoping so desperately she was wrong.

"I just got off on leave, Sir. The paperwork's in. Yes, Sir… Of course, Sir…" Max glanced towards her and just as quickly turned away. "No, no, of course… Yes, right…" He had started pacing in place. "That soon? Right...No… I wouldn't want that, Sir… Yes…" He hung up the phone with a weary sigh.

He returned to the couch to see Ruth with two fingers pressing at the bridge of her nose. "Uh, bad news."

"You have to go back," she hissed softly. "Correction, do you _have_ to go back?"

"I agreed to serve this country," he firmly stated, standing at attention.

"Did the man you were speaking to say you _have_ to go back?" She reached for her cigarette, lighting it casually. "Or did he ask?"

"He made it clear that my presence would be very helpful."

"Did he ask?" she repeated, a brow raising.

He scowled, pressed into a corner. "He asked and I said yes."

"Of course he did, and of course you did. When do you leave, tonight?" She gestured for the door he had come in through. "Right now?"

"I'm serving this country," he boomed angrily. "I can stay through tomorrow, then I head back. You knew this was my dream, Ruth. I thought you were on my side."

"You make that really hard sometimes," she sighed out, smoke escaping her lips in a tired wisp. "Really hard…"

He sat down beside her. "Look, let's not spoil the night we have, alright? We'll have something to eat, relax, and enjoy the day. Tomorrow, I'll take you somewhere special. Name the place, I'm on it."

Ruth's lips curled upwards in a faint smirk of a smile. "I'll think of something by the time we finish dinner. You'll earn your forgiveness." Not that she had any confidence that things were moving in a positive direction. Still, she could maybe get a decent day out of it. That wasn't all bad, right?

They returned to watching television until the food arrived. Laura came to join them at that point, gathered around the low table in the living room. They ate and chatted idly, though Ruth's eyes were on the bruise that had been given to Laura. "Let me put something on that."

"I'm fine, Mom," she insisted, shrugging her still-jacketed shoulders. "It's a lesson to not make that mistake again. I'll get better."

"That's my girl." He reached to pat her shoulder with obvious pride. "Next time you'll be the one knocking _my_ block off and I can't wait."

"Working on it, Sir." She saluted and resumed her eating, eagerly filling her face with tasty vittles as she watched television. Things fell to companionable silence as bad animation played on the screen, easily watched and digested with nothing to really consider.

When everyone had their fill, Laura and Ruth put the leftovers away. Goodnights were had, and they split up to their rooms. Laura to hers, Ruth and Max to theirs.


	5. Chapter 5

Laura focused on school, both the sort where she had to take notes, and the one she had to take specific poses. She was a diligent girl, learning both without hesitation, but she could see things happening.

"What do you _mean_ another week?" shouted her mother into the phone. "Are they running a slave galley? Volunteered? Why?!" Ruth looked ready to strangle the phone as if it would somehow transfer the violence to her father through the wires.

But Laura tried to ignore that. Her new friends were fun, and she began spending more time with them rather than coming home. Katie was more than happy to do homework with her, and Cindy enjoyed video games when they weren't all outside, getting into various trouble.

At first she didn't share her home issues, but as the shouting matches on the phone became louder and more frequent, she failed to hold it in, confessing to Katie as she worked on a math problem. "My mom's being a real jerk to my dad."

Katie looked up from her own work. "What do you mean?"

"She keeps yelling at him on the phone." Laura shrugged her jacketed shoulders. "I get it, I do… she wants him to come home… but he's doing army stuff. I'm proud of him." She smiled gently, her pride true.

"That's pretty cool," agreed Katia, moving to the next problem. "But he has to come home sometimes. Don't they give him time off?"

"But he's too cool for that." Laura shrugged lightly. "Did you see the jacket he gave me?"

Katie burst into laughter. "How can I miss it? You wear it every day!"

But the problems were not resolved.

They only grew worse, until they began to get quieter. Had they reached an accord? Laura could only hope, smiling a little as she went for a soda from the fridge. Ruth was on the phone, but she wasn't yelling. They were talking nice and normally.

Laura paused to look over towards it, happy that the shouting had stopped.

"Yes… I know… It's just not working." Ruth leaned against a pillar in the house. "I want to…" She was speaking quietly instead of angrily. Almost sadly.

Laura felt her smile fade.

"I'll keep Laura, unless you plan to come out of there and take care of her?"

Laura felt her heart freeze in her chest.

"No… I didn't expect you to. Look… it's fine. I know how to handle her. We'll just need-" She noticed Laura there and swore colorfully. "Laura! Off with you. We'll talk later, promise."

Laura fled, tears trailing as she slammed the door to her room. Her life was falling apart, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

No amount of martial-arts or knowledge of trigonometry would stop it. She slammed a fist into a pillow, sending it across the room in her angry exchange. "Damn it…"

She came home less often. At least school made sense. Her friends made sense. Learning how to punch people in their stupid faces made sense.

* * *

"We will go over self defense techniques today. These are not, strictly speaking, part of the martial art. Many of these techniques cannot be used in formal tournaments, nor are there as many situations to consider them at that time. If you aren't interested in that, sit out, it's fine," explained their teacher. "But for the rest of you…"

Roughly half the class decided to opt out, many of those just leaving, some watching. Laura remained at the ready. Learning to defend herself was why she had signed up to begin with. "I had a feeling you'd stay," spoke her teacher with a kind smile. "Now, in the real world, a fight is anything but organized and formal. Your goal is not to look good. Your goal is to win, and stop the fight."

He raised a finger. "If you can run away, great. If you can make them not want to fight anymore, fantastic. You have nothing to prove when you're outside of a formal ring, so don't even hesitate if the opportunity to end the fight presents itself." With a startling suddenness, he was holding a switchblade, its naked steel glinting in the dojo light. "On the street, the other person may have one of these, or a gun. I'll show you how you can try to disarm them, but if the option to get away is there, you take it. You take it and live."

They went over how to knock a blade or gun out of a hand, and how to avoid being stabbed by one while getting out of the confrontation. He showed how mace worked, and gave one to every student that accepted one. "I know what you're thinking; you're a trained martial artist. Why would I carry mace? Did you already forget what I said? If you can stop the fight, you do that. You don't owe trash on the street a fair fight. They want that, come to the ring."

Laura accepted hers and stuffed it the inner pocket of the jacket she had taken to wearing. It wasn't as glamourous as applying Kung Fu to the side of some jerk's face. An image danced in her mind of the sudden rough-handling her mother had given the person that had originally frightened her and she smiled a little at the memory.

"Miss Powers, you look distracted."

She jerked upright. "No, Sir! I was just thinking it'd be nice to teach a lesson to someone who really deserved it, Sir."

He brought his hands together in a soft clap. "And you can do that, but only if you aren't getting yourself hurt in the process. I'd rather a random idiot not learn their lesson than to see a fine student hurt. Besides, they probably won't learn even after you had your way with them; it's how they work."

Before Laura could leave at the end of the class, the teacher set a hand in front of her. "Take this home." He was holding a slip of paper towards her.

She cringed, wondering what she had done wrong as she accept it.

"Don't look like that. It's good news, promise."

A relieved smile came to her face. She wasn't ready for bad news in one of few places of safety. "Thank you." She bowed properly and dashed off to the locker room to change.

The older girl was there, and saw the slip. She sharply whistled at Laura. "The teachers must like what they see."

"What do you mean?"

She pointed at Laura's paper. "That's a permission and payment slip for a belt test. If your parents sign off and pay, you'll be doing a test to get the next belt. Congratulations!" She brought her hands together formally. "It'll be great seeing you with me instead of with all the other white belts."

Laura's hope flared brighter and she was all smiles as she got dressed in her street clothes and jacket and dashed off to show her mother the good news.

"Mom!" she gushed as she threw open the door to her apartment. "I have…"

There was her father, sitting on the couch. Her mother was next to him. Neither looked especially happy to be there.

Her hand fell, though the slip was still held firmly. She let the backpack roll off her shoulders to land beside the front door. "Hey."

Max nodded towards her. "Come here, Laura. We have to talk, as a family."

She did the walk of death, each step feeling stiff and cold. She sank down at the other end of the table, on the floor, looking up at them. "I'm not an idiot," she spat suddenly. "You're divorcing."

They shared a glance at one another before Ruth set her cigarette inside. "I'm just gonna start by saying it is _not_ your fault, Laura. You did nothing wrong."

"As if my little girl _could_ do wrong." Max smiled proudly, but his eyes wandered to the paper still held in her right hand. "What's that there?"

"This? What's it matter." She threw it onto the table between them.

Max took it up without delay. "Hmm? What? This is great news!"

"Hm?" Ruth leaned over to get a peek at it, her own dour expression lightening a little. "It is. Look, Laura, we're going through a rough patch and… going our separate ways, but that doesn't make this any less of good news."

"So it's true." She bounced up to her feet. "Fine, whatever!" She charged away, only to have an iron grip on her arm. Max had caught her before she could get far.

"Sit down," he sternly commanded, pointing with his free hand to where she had started.

"No, Sir." she hissed in reply, scowling.

He yanked her around the table and she yelped in surprise. Her free hand suddenly came in, smashing into his wrist in a stiff blow that weakened his grip for just a moment. Long enough to dash away into her room, her door slamming behind her.

"That could have gone better," dryly noted Ruth with a raised brow. "Who taught you how to treat a teenaged girl."

He let out his breath in a weary sigh. "Guess that's why you're taking her instead of me... "

Ruth pulled out a piece of paper from a bag at the end of the couch and set it down. "Let's get this over with then. One signature and you can get back to where you _want_ to be."

He had his own scowl to give her, but snatched up the form to look it over, eyes sweeping back and forth in rapid reading. "Uh huh… mm…" Most of it was fairly basic stuff. It formalized their dissolved union, gave her custody. Gave her... "Wait what? You want my money even as you kick me out?"

"That child you were manhandling isn't free to raise." Ruth hiked a brow. "You'll pay your share of that until she's an adult, unless you're saying the girl you love isn't worth helping. This isn't about me."

His teeth clenched, slapping the paper down and glaring at it as if that would change the reality of the moment. Going to court about it would have taken precious time and even more money away. He had things to do… "Fine…" he allowed with a wearisome noise, pulling a pen free to apply his name. "Fine. Take it then."

She added her own signature and carefully folded it in half. "Thank you. Look… I hope you do fine, it's just not where I can be."

"Yeah…" He put his pen away, leaning back with a sigh. "Yeah…"


End file.
